Before Electric Park: Early Amusement in Kansas City

A lot of people in Kansas City are excited that the J. Rieger & Co. Distillery plans to open the "Electric Park Garden Bar" in the East Bottoms neighborhood where the turn-of-the-20th century Electric Park amusement park was located, and I'm one of them. I've been studying Kansas City's amusement parks for decades, and helped publish a book called Kansas City's Fairmount Park, which is really a history of all of KC's amusement parks of that era.

Most Kansas City history buffs can tell you about Electric Park, and most of them know that there were two Electric Parks in KC. There were actually THREE, but we'll get to that later. I've often seen or heard the words, "The first amusement park in Kansas City was Electric Park." That statement is quite incorrect, so I'd like to go a bit farther back in time and talk about early amusement parks and venues in Kansas City that were already here before and when "Kansas City's Coney Island" opened its gates for the very first time in 1900. Travel back in time with me, if you will!

In the late 1860s, Kansas City was a town that enjoyed it's amusements. It was a Gateway for countless pioneers as they moved to settle in the West, and commerce was booming. The citizens, visitors, and the settlers who decided to stay here were never at a loss for ways to have fun. For men such as Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson, and Wyatt Earp, Kansas City was their playground. 

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By the mid-1860s Kansas City flourished with 24-hour restaurants and saloons, billiard halls, ten-pin alleys (another name for bowling), shooting galleries, and, though it was not legal, a lot of gambling. Different circuses came to town regularly. There were fairs of various sorts, dances, and ice skating in the winter. Even though the town was still rough and still recovering from the Civil War, there was always something fun to do in Kansas City.

Much of livelihood of our town could be credited to members of the community that the Daily Journal of Commerce newspaper referred to as, "our fun-loving Germans."  Before amusement parks existed here, there were numerous beer gardens, thanks to German immigrants like Peter John Schwitzgebel, who opened the first known brewery in Kansas City in the late 1850s.

In 1865 another German immigrant, C.J. Frank, constructed a three-story building on the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Main, across the street from the courthouse. The first and second floors were a grocery store, and the third floor would soon become Kansas City's most popular amusement hall.  People would climb three flights of stairs to be entertained by everything from church socials and lectures to theatrical and burlesque performances. Frank's Hall would also bring popular circus sideshow acts like Chang and Eng, the "Siamese Twins," and General and Mrs. Tom Thumb to Kansas City.

There was always something going on at Frank's Hall, until snow collapsed the roof of the building at 3 o'clock in the morning on December 18, 1878, killing two. By this time Kansas City had plenty of other amusements to offer.  1870 saw the completion of the Coates Opera House, and the same year the Kansas City Driving Park brought horse racing to town. 1870 was also the year Kansas City got it's first real amusement park.

In Kansas City, and probably a lot of American cities, 19th century amusement parks were often built to serve one of two purposes, or possibly both, in addition to providing a place for recreation of the town's citizens and visitors. One purpose was to sell beer. The other purpose was to provide a reason for people to ride streetcars which had lines that led far outside of city limits and the business districts. The thinking was that if a streetcar line was built that went "way out into the sticks," putting a park at the end of the line would not only encourage people to ride the streetcar, it would also inspire real estate development along that line. These were called "Trolley Parks."

Kansas City's first amusement park was called Tivoli Garden. Tivoli Garden belonged in the first category -- it was also known as Tivoli Beer Garden, and the Belleview Beer Garden, and sometimes the Tivoli Wine Garden. The name Tivoli Garden came from what is now the second-oldest amusement park still in operation -- the original Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kansas City's Tivoli Garden was located on the Westport Road, on the grounds near the Keck home at 24th and Main street, which was just outside of what was then the city limit of Kansas City.

Tivoli Garden was created by a German immigrant named Martin Keck. Keck came to Kansas City on the Santa Fe Trail working as a freighter in 1862. In 1868 Mr. Keck bought the old Helmreich & Co.'s brewery, and shortly thereafter married Helmreich's daughter Mary. At the time Tivoli Garden opened Martin's brother, John Keck, was the City Marshall of Kansas City.  Martin Keck was already well established in Kansas City and owned the Gem Billiard Hall on Grand Avenue.

The bandstand at Tivoli Garden was a platform built around a large tree in the center of the park, and there was always music and dancing. There was a "ten-pin alley," and an ice cream parlor of sorts. There was a pavilion where "entertainments," called "varieties" (later to be called Vaudeville) were held.  Tivoli Garden lasted for around ten years, until an ordinance was passed forbidding the sale of liquor on Sunday, and people were looking elsewhere for entertainment.

To be continued...

Open Letter to Peter Frampton and Sir Barry Gibb

Dear Sirs,

Please stop regretting being part of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. There are very few people alive today who can say, "I did a really big favor for The Beatles!" but the two of you can. 

In the recent Bee Gee's HBO documentary, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, no mention was made by Sir Barry Gibb nor anyone else of this monumental project. Peter Frampton's recent autobiography, Do You Feel Like I Do? laments his involvement heavily. The late Sir George Martin sighed remorsefully in an interview about re-producing the music that had seemingly changed the world a decade earlier. He took that regret to the grave. The two of you need not share that fate.

Sure, the movie was goofy and Beatles purists hated it. Truth to tell, such listeners probably didn't like your music anyway. The movie critics hated it, and why wouldn't they? 1978 was the year that brought us "Animal House" and "Up in Smoke" and "The Deer Hunter" and "Midnight Express" and "Grease" and the first Superman movie. 1978 could rival 1939 as a year filled with more timeless classics than can be remembered off-hand.

A quick glance at the script might have given you a clue about what you were getting yourselves into. But take heart! The movie made a $20 million profit at the box office, the soundtrack went platinum, and for good reason -- the music was great and the kids loved the movie!

And that's where you can pat yourselves on the back and take pride in the fact that your silly movie created a whole new generation of Beatles fans, who passed that love on to the next generation, and so on.  I thought of the two of you the first time I saw my kids playing, "The Beatles: Rock Band," enjoying how much they were loving it.

I am a perfect example of your impact. As an 11-year-old Bee Gees fan in 1978 I loved the Beatles well enough, the same way I loved Monty Python's Flying Circus. I loved British pop culture. I thought I knew all about the British Invasion because I'd seen the documentaries. But as a top-40s listener, it was the Wings hits I knew all of by heart. Until the Sgt. Pepper movie I never realized how many Beatles songs I'd never heard. In 1975 I had to be told that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds wasn't an Elton John original. My mom's Beatles albums were relegated to the dusty oldies section of the family's LP collection. My parents were top-40s/rock listeners, too, and big Frampton fans. We listened to whatever was popular at the time. I knew fewer that a half-dozen Beatles songs by heart.

In 1978 I was a HUGE Bee Gees fan, and loved Peter Frampton (I still am and still do).

But in 1979 I became an even bigger Beatles fan. The few Beatles classics I grew up loving took a back seat the first time I heard the song "Penny Lane." The skies opened up hearing Abbey Road from beginning to end for the first time, and my new-found affinity for the Fab Four went on for decades. Revolver -- Rubber Soul -- each "new find" was a revelation for me. I spent the entire 1980s doing "Beatles research," and probably could have won trivia contests. 

I wasn't the Lone Ranger with this. By early 1980 my brother had fallen under the spell. That summer we heard about the "Butcher Cover" on the "Yesterday and Today" album, and spent a whole night steaming and scraping the album cover to reveal the forbidden original design. In our haste and excitement we pretty much butchered the Butcher Cover, making our "third state" find worth very little to the person who had graciously loaned us this album and, like us, had no idea of the history.

The assassination of John Lennon at the end of 1980 hit the world hard, and naturally a resurgence of Beatlemania followed. But the stage had already been set for this for the kids who loved the Sgt. Pepper movie. The grief in my household was palpable, sheer bereavement that would not have been so painful were my brother and I not already Beatle Freaks. It was not a coincidence that we had only recently really "discovered" the Beatles.

Thank you, Mr. Frampton and Sir Barry. You made us this way. And the Beatles, their heirs, and people who license and profit from Beatles merch have made many thousands of dollars from my family alone. They owe you BILLION$ of thanks as well. To this day my brother will spend his last dime on any "new" Beatles anything he finds for sale, and I still love the both of you and hope you're getting your fair share of streaming and other royalties as I continue to indulge in your non-Sgt. Pepper endeavors. But please stop regretting making that movie, will you?

Sincerely yours, 

~*L. A.*~

Not My Relgion, Not my God, Not my Messiah

 As a Judeo-Christian/Messianic Jew, these people are deeply offensive to me. Non-believers and agnostics watch these kinds of antics and it makes them want no part of the Bible. How can "minsters" and "evangelicals" increase the flock by engaging in this sort of mocking, ridiculous behavior that, to me, borders on the demonic?

Watch Kenneth Copeland, revered by millions, as he rebukes President-Elect Biden's win with laughter:

Let's not forget the success he had destroying COVID-19 forever by blowing the Wind of God back in April of this year:

As a prosperity preacher Kenneth Copeland has a net worth of around $300 million, and for somebody who talks about Jesus Christ as much as he does, I can't help but wonder how much thought he gives to Matthew 19:16-24.

Then we have Trump's personal spiritual adviser (who is on the White House payroll), another prosperity preacher named Paula White, praying for victory the day after the election. Please DO NOT miss the part when she starts "speaking in tongues" around the 50-second point. Strangely, during this prayer she calls for angels from Africa and South America to come HERE -- from the same places her boss (Trump, not the Lord) called "shit-hole countries" and warned us of migrants from these places coming in caravans to rape and murder Americans. Classic irony.

I wish I had a way to remind her what Paul says about speaking in tongues without an interpreter as related in 1 Corinthians 14:27-28. And let's never forget how she warns people what will happen if they don't send that check for $3,500 - $35,000 - or $100,000 --- "...your dream will die..." You'll find that at the 2:05 mark in the video below if it doesn't take you there automatically. 

The whole video about this taxpayer-sponsored member of Trump's White House staff is extremely enlightening. Prosperity preaching has worked well for her -- she owns a $3.5 million condo at Mar-a-Lago.

Judge not lest ye be judged, right? I'm willing to take that chance here. I'll take whatever's coming my way for the chance to call out charlatans like Kenneth Copeland and Paula White. These people make it very difficult for legitimate ministers to reach the hearts and minds and win the souls of those who don't know what it's like to understand the Blessing of God. Atheists and agnostics who watch the antics of Kenneth Copeland "destroying COVID-19 forever" may likely never be swayed, no matter how many good Christians they see out in the world feeding the poor and healing the sick and ministering the way people are taught to in the Holy Bible. In fact, true Christians might be taken in the other direction, either by assuming that frauds like Copeland actually do represent Jesus and turning away, or else by falling in line with such preaching and losing the real message.

These people don't represent anything to do with my religion. I worship the God of Abraham. I don't need to own a jet or a mansion to prove to anyone that God is Good. I can only keep trying to live up to the teachings of Jesus and Moses and the Prophets and the Apostles. No matter how much I fail at this, no matter how bad things get, I still know and will always know that God is Good. I wish my life could better reflect that, but I'd rather be the peasant that I am for the rest of my time on this planet than to have millions of dollars and act foolish in videos that cause potential Believers to doubt everything that is Holy.

Today in Antifa History

REMEMBERING D-DAY

On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along the beaches of Normandy, France. The 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified coastline was the launching place of the biggest battle against Fascism in history.  Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, "we will accept nothing less than full victory." Read more about D-Day here

Also see:  How Fascism Spreads --

"Before Hitler attacks any country, his agents carefully sow seeds of hate and disunity, turning people against their own governments, governments against their allies, class against class..."  -- From the pamphlet, "Divide and Conquer,"
U.S. Government, 1942

Are you pro-Fascist or anti-Fascist?

Extreme Q-Anon Dummy/Right-Wing Relief

Several of my right-wing friends on Facebook got some really good news around the time Donald Trump warned Americans that there would be "a lot of death" in the days ahead, just when many of us were about to lose it after weeks of confinement and worrying about our loved ones.

What was this good news? It seems they are finally able to confirm that this whole coronavirus thing really IS a hoax like they said it was all along. Not only is it a hoax, but it's the BEST KIND of hoax. Was anyone worried that Donald Trump was being made to look like an incompetent idiot and causing many thousands of our grandparents to die? Worry no more! You will soon see that it was all a cover for a much more important secret operation, and that right after Easter Donald Trump will be seen all over the world as the savior that they already know him to be.

I'll cut right to the chase: Donald Trump, it seems, is playing along with a secret mission whereby thousands of children who have been living in tunnels under New York and other liberal bastions, being sexually exploited by the likes of Hillary Clinton and George Soros, will be rescued by the U.S. Military in a super-secret operation led by none other than Donald Trump himself.
That's why they have to clear the streets -- to find the tunnels. That's why they have to clear the hospitals -- so that the children being rescued can be treated without giving up any details of this ultra-secret operation that all of your farthest-right friends are talking about on Facebook. It's also why they are making room in prisons by letting non-violent offenders go free -- they need to have room to lock up Hillary Clinton, Barack Hussein Obama, Chelsea Clinton, and their many thousands of accomplices who have spent more than a decade creating this massive network of tunnels below ground to hide all of these children.

You don't believe me? Well maybe you'll believe some of these citizen journalists that are spreading their relief all over the internet. Take this message of hope from QAnon enthusiast Michelle Tittler:
Warning: Extreme graphic language -- but don't miss the bit about Tom Hanks, etc. Amazing how happy she is about this! They'd rather see this going on than to admit that Trump blew his initial response and let it get this catastrophic.



It would be hard to doubt the journalistic credentials of anyone who can dance this well.



And if you don't believe Ms. Tittler perhaps you'll be reassured when you hear the words of investigative journalist (and Michelle Tittler's source) Liz Crokin, who has racked up more than a million views in a five-segment YouTube special report that you may have seen your right-wing friends sharing. Here's the latest:



And even if these woke ladies don't convince you, perhaps you won't be so quick to dismiss the findings of YouTube user "Smoakpipe," who will give it to you "raw, hard, and dirty":



Any of these YouTubers will tell you that yes, there WILL be death like Donald Trump says, but we have to keep in mind that it's worth sacrificing old people, like my dad, if it saves the children.  In fact, when I told my father about all of this earlier today he expressed a great deal of relief that his potential demise would not be in vain.

We must all do whatever we can to reassure right wingers that their faith and trust in Donald Trump will not go unjustified. Otherwise millions of families -- along with the global economy -- would have been destroyed for no good reason. What better reason could there be than for the children...